CIT Falls 42% After Fitch Sees Constraints on Short-Term Debt

CIT Falls 42% After Fitch Sees Constraints on Short-Term Debt

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- CIT Group Inc., the largest independent U.S. commercial finance company, dropped as much as 42 percent after Fitch ratings said the company's access to unsecured short-term debt has become ``materially constrained.''

CIT fell $3.14 to $8.50 at 9:58 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading and sold for as little as $6.75, the biggest drop in almost six years. The company has declined 83 percent in 12 months.

Fitch said yesterday that New York-based CIT may need to tap $7.3 billion in backup credit lines. The ratings firm said it may downgrade New York-based CIT, following cuts by Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's.

BLOOMBERG